Frameshifts with Benjamin Arya

Building the Wyss Institute, Organs-on-Chips, and Fighting for Science — Don Ingber | Frameshifts Episode #9

02 Dec 2025

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The future of human biology isn’t about better animal models - it’s about building human organs on chips that think like the body does.Don Ingber, founding director of Harvard’s Wyss Institute, has one of the most unconventional origin stories in the field. In 1975, as a Yale undergrad, he took a sculpture class where students built floating structures held together only by tension; no rods touching, no rigid frames. At the same time, he watched cells in culture flatten, round up, and then flatten again.The connection clicked: cells aren’t rigid blocks; they’re dynamic tensegrity structures, governed by forces, tension, and mechanical cues. That conceptual shift reshaped his view of biology.Fast-forward, and Ingber’s team would eventually build something that changed the definition of a “model system”: organ-on-chip devices the size of a thumb drive, lined with living human cells, that recapitulate organ-level physiology with astonishing fidelity.Key Takeaways:* Animal testing has a low success rate: 70% of clinical trials fail, with neurology hitting 95% failure rate. Organs-on-chip technology offers an alternative method that can help predict patient treatment responses* How a chip mimics an organ: Two microfluidic channels with different tissue types separated by a porous membrane. Cyclic suction mimics breathing or peristalsis* The microbiome breakthrough: Culturing complex bacterial communities for days using flow and mechanical forces creates a microbiome-like culture compared to static cultures* Personalized medicine economics: Test 100 patient-derived chips, identify the 50 responders, screen for toxicity, run focused clinical trials on the 35 most promising candidates* The Wyss origin story: A donor who walked away for two years, and a Martha’s Vineyard meeting that led to a $125 million gift* Why institutional structure matters: Independent governance, no deans, separate finances from Harvard and MIT* The Boston/Cambridge singularity: Universities, hospitals, VCs, pharma all in walking distance. You can’t recreate this by distributing talent globally* What’s at stake now: Immigration restrictions and funding cuts threaten the human capital that drives American innovationThis conversation goes beyond the science. We get into what it actually takes to build an institution like the Wyss, and how we’re watching the American scientific leadership face an existential threat with immigration restrictions and ideological constraints.And in case you’re short on time, here’s a quick teaser:Watch on Youtube; listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.GUEST INFORMATION:* Don Ingber - Founding Director, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University* “Cellular tensegrity: defining new rules of biological design that govern the cytoskeleton” - Journal of Cell Science (1993)* “Human organs-on-chips for disease modelling, drug development and personalized medicine” - Nature Review Genetics (2022)* X (Twitter) * Wyss Institute* Emulate (Organ Chip Company)CONNECT WITH US:* Website* Substack* YouTube* X (Twitter)* LinkedIn* TikTok Get full access to Frameshifts with Benjamin Arya at frameshifts.bio/subscribe

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3ª PARTE | 17 DIC 2025 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

01 Jan 1970

El Partidazo de COPE

13:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

12:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

10:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

13:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

12:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

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Frameshifts with Benjamin Arya

Building the Wyss Institute, Organs-on-Chips, and Fighting for Science — Don Ingber | Frameshifts Episode #9

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Other recent transcribed episodes

3ª PARTE | 17 DIC 2025 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

13:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

12:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

10:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

13:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

12:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

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